# Using transgenic parasitic nematodes to investigate Type 2 immunity

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $201,250

## Abstract

Summary
 Gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic nematodes sicken and debilitate billions of people on the planet and have
a profound negative impact upon agriculture. Clearly, there is a great need for anti-nematode vaccines, but
understanding how these worms are targeted and killed by the immune system has been hampered by difficulties
in tracking nematode antigen-specific T cells. Nematodes are protected by a semi-permeable cuticle that limits
antigenic exposure prior to their potential degradation within host tissue, making identification of specific
requirements for antigen-specific host immunity difficult at present, but nevertheless a high priority for human
health. The purpose of this R21 application is to capitalize upon a major technological advance in heritable
transgenesis in parasitic nematodes to explore the mechanistic requirements of host protective T cell epitopes.
We will use an arsenal of tissue-specific promoters and constructs that can generate both secreted and
membrane bound proteins expressing this epitope, we will delineate the requirements for protective CD4+ T cell
responses. We will use existing and newly generated transgenic nematode lines combined with MHC II
tetramers, cytokine assays, adoptive transfer experiments to address questions in the field of helminth
immunology that have not been previously possible. The central hypothesis tested in this project is that
secretion and/or membrane localization of model antigens in parasite cells in direct contact with the host
environment impacts the identity and protective efficacy of the nematode-specific CD4+ T cell response.
Successful completion of this work stands to make a paradigm shifting impact on the field of biomedical research
on parasitic helminths.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9850529
- **Project number:** 5R21AI144572-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** De'Broski R Herbert
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $201,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-01-15 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9850529

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9850529, Using transgenic parasitic nematodes to investigate Type 2 immunity (5R21AI144572-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9850529. Licensed CC0.

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